CENTCOM Denies Reports of Navy Helicopter Crash

U.S. Central Command on Tuesday rejected reports that a Navy helicopter crashed in the Red Sea, saying all U.S. military aircraft and personnel in the Middle East were safe and accounted for. Public flight-tracking data showed the aircraft declaring an emergency near Saudi Arabia before its signal disappeared, but the helicopter’s fate has not been independently established in the available information. The aircraft was identified as an MH-60R Seahawk using the call sign VVHR512. According to Flightradar24 data, it declared an emergency at about 5:20 p.m. ET Monday near Yanbu, a port city on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The helicopter was displayed at roughly 475 feet before its reported altitude fell to zero and tracking stopped. CENTCOM said the reports of a downed helicopter were untrue. Its statement addressed claims circulated by Iranian media that the aircraft had crashed. The command said U.S. aircraft and personnel across the region were safe and accounted for, but the supplied reports did not provide further detail about the helicopter’s location or condition after tracking ended.